FFXIV Open Beta Delay + Minecrafting

As you’ve probably heard by now, the Final Fantasy XIV Open Beta was abruptly delayed, just hours before it was supposed to go live. The official statement, as well as the follow-up statement are seen below.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test Postponed

FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test, which is scheduled to begin at 19:00 (PDT) on Aug. 31, 2010, will be postponed due to a confirmation of critical bugs. New schedule will be releaseｄ at a later date.

Along with the postponement of FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test, the issuing of registration code for FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test will be postponed as well. With the download of client software’s installer, it will be suspended at 19:00 (PDT) on Aug. 31, 2010.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

….

FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test Postponed: Follow-up

We would like to take this opportunity to provide an update regarding the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test, which was announced to be postponed on Aug. 31, 2010.

A critical issue where the client software for the open beta test would not respond on certain rare occasions has been addressed. As of now, we are in the final stages of preparation for the start of the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test.

A new schedule will be released at a later date. Until then, we ask for your patience in this matter.

This news, combined with the fact that someone linked me this video (also shown below – highly recommend you watch it!) on twitter, led me to picking up a Minecraft pre-order. Securing a pre-order not only helps support the development, but it nets you 50% off the beta-and-onward pricing as well as giving you access to play the alpha, which includes the amazingly addictive and open-ended “Survival” mode. I’m having a blast with it. It literally pulls you into it’s simplistic, yet engaging world, and sucks time away. All I can remember of the last seven hours is that I started playing Minecraft around midnight and the sun is now up!

I was (still, maybe?) tempted to reactivate Aion and giveit shot, considering the patch 2.0 news has got me interested in it again. I’ll probably just wait it out for the FFXIV Open Beta, as it sounds like it should still be less than a week away.